Bangladesh’s export earnings have fallen 3.5 per cent to $2.53 billion due to negative growth of clothing sector in the first month of current fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) provisional data in July 2016, Bangladesh fetched $2.53 billion, which is 3.49 per cent less compared to $2.62 billion in July 2015. The figure is nearly 25 per cent less than that of the target of $3.37 billion set for the month of July 2016.

Meanwhile, trade analysts and manufacturers as well as the government have attributed Eid vacation to the downtrend of export earnings. They argued that the factories, especially the RMGs, were closed due to the vacation, which caused less production. There is no connection between the current situation and the work orders executed in July, which were placed two to three months ago, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Similarly, the country’s RMG export earnings witnessed a 4.41 per cent decline to $2.11 billion in July, which was $2.22 billion in the same period a year ago. The figure is 23.60 per cent less than the target of $3.03 billion set for the month of July 16.